Crazy Carl

Idch, I went w/the 5-ply binding & pickguard, 'cos I was kinda going for a bit of Les Paul Custom type vibe. Could see how some find it a bit 'busy', but I dig & think it's kinda classy. JMHO, of course.

Color/cosmetics were just coincidence, really. I initially was going to go w/o a pickguard, but had to, in the end, due to a minor goof/mis-measurement in the neck p/u route area. Shape is the bass side of my TCM Royal & the treble side of my TCM FLE. Neck joint area massaged a bit, tho. Xlr8, got the binding from Stew Mac & LMI. But, new MSDSs musta come out lately, 'cos Stew Mac won't ship it overseas/via air anymore. LMI would, as of a month ago, but haven't checked lately. I think the LMI stuff is less expensive, but is also cheaper/poorer quality. AND, the thinner multiply is only available b/w, not ivoroid/black, to match the outter iv/blk/iv binding. Anywho, the binding was 2 'courses'- an inner course of .04" iv/blk (.02/.02) & the outter course is .09" iv/blk/iv (.02/.02/.05). Dunno if I mentioned it, but the neck is BIG- 1 11/16" to 2 1/4" taper & 1.05" thick at the 1st fret, tapering up to 1.15" at the 12th fret. I like baseball bat necks, what can I say?

Hey thanks, guys. 'Preciate it. RGGR, we're cool bro. No prob. Jay5- Yep, all mo-hawg. Back/sides/neck will be natural. Mebbe a slight amber tinge after I seal w/shellac. Got some CA staining/runout on the headstock that I couldn't sand out w/o going thru the outer layer of binding (I was NOT gonna re-do that). Since the CA won't take stain, I figgered to hell w/it & pore-filled w/CA. I think it'll be a nice contrast. As far as the p/g, I used a LP Jr. p/g drawing & modified it to taste. Cut a template outta 1/2" ply, chucked up a bevelling bit in the router & voila. Couple other folks have mentioned the Red Special thing. Furthest thing from my mind, actually. Cool coincidence, tho. I think it's the color/cosmetics more than anything. I'm sure most of you know this, but multi-ply binding is a PITA! Now I understand the heinous upcharge for it as a custom option. Worth it, in the end, but mega frustrating while in process.

Got everything porefilled, sanded back, stained, etc. Scraped the stain off the binding (what a bitch!). Made the scratch plate & trussrod cover. Stain is 20ml 'cherry red', 5ml 'vintage amber' & 16oz. alcohol. Not as red IRL as the pics, more a burnt/rust kinda thing. Think it'll really pop once I seal 'er up w/shellac. More front/body shots- front shot 'nother frontal Nice shot of the 'board Here's the trussrod cover I made from fretboard scrap. Wanted to run w/the grain length-wise, but the scrap was about 1/8" too short. Still cool, I think. trussrod cover Gotta make a nut & the jack plate this week. Hope to be spraying nitro by the weekend.

Yeah, I just got those plans for a visual reference, as I wasn't building a 'pure' Junior. Eh, lesson learned. Still turned out all good.

Edit- moved to 'new post' on original thread.

Setch, it was the actual physical size of the p/u's that was off. It caught me, 'cos I had everything laid out, marked, etc. Was going to run the neck joint to far side of the neck p/u route & not use a pickguard. Measured everything several times, then trimmed neck accordingly. Ended up putting the p/u 3/8" past the end of the fretboard & now I have to use a pickguard to cover the discrepancy between neck joint route & p/u routed. Measured my P90s against the drawings & the drawings were 1/8" thicker. At any rate, I dunno where the disconnect was, other than the p/u drawings being off size-wise. The thing that cheesed me, was that I could have run a 2" longer tenon if I'd known I'd end up using a pickguard anyway. That said, the V drawings seem great, but are also obviously of a much higher quality, i.e. tons of precise measurements for everything, angles, etc. BTW, noice Junior. I dig it.

Use those MIMF Junior plans at your own peril. I didn't check every spec, but the p/u's thickness are off by an 1/8". Dunno how accurate they are otherwise, but that one spec cause me enough heartburn to be wary.

Lemme add that if you get CA squeeze-out, stains, whatever on your wood, pray you can sand it out. 'Least if yer doing a trans finish. It won't take stain worth a darn. I'm finishing my back & neck 'trans natural' w/a CA porefiller due to a few spots I couldn't sand out w/o sanding thru the outer layer of binding.

Looks like re-fin Mexi Strat, but that finish is great. Very noice. Gives me hope for finising mine w/rattle-cans (CLOU nitrocellulose).

Oops. Nevermind.

Gawd I hate that one. 1/2 sleeves & several other pieces & when I hear that question, I just wanna smack 'em.

Fryovanni, got the headstock bound today & drilled for tuners. Gonna route the neck pocket tomorrow. Will try to toss up a pic or two w/the neck 'dry' fitted.

RGGR, in case you haven't noticed, I don't post here often. In fact, I've never even seen a rules section. I just try to follow accepted guidelines for not being a 'net jackass. My point was that if you were gonna be a wiseass, so could I. Dunno why the pics are so big. I thought Photobucket hacked 'em down to 250kb automatically? If the pic size is too much I'll start hackin 'em down a bit. Again, RGGR, advice, tips, links to the rules section, etc. are always appreciated, but some BS, sarcastic, 'cool guy' attitude is just gonna piss me off.

Ripsvr 'n Al, thanks, bros.

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Thanks, Perry. Means a lot, comin' from you, mate! I'll shoot a mock up pic tomorrow- shop on base is closed on Fridays. The design is totally not original- headstock is a Ken Lawrence take-off & the body shape is an amalgamation of 2 different Terry McInturff bodies.

Here's where I'm at currently- Body binding done- Original body that went to the great scrap pile in the sky Macassar ebony 'board w/abalone dots- board Headstock in progress- headstock 'Board laid on neck- board/neck Binding sucks. Ugghh. Got a few thin spots in the binding from either not getting the binding taped down tightly enough or not getting the binding ledge deep enough. Gonna hafta porefill the back & sides w/CA due to runs that I can't sand out due to 'too' thin binding. Abalone dots are a b**ch! If they're a tiny bit 'proud' you sand thru the 'figure' & end up w/dots that look closer to pearl than abalone. Aggravating, but not enough to punch 'em out & redo. Not that noticeable w/the figure in the ebony, anyway. Yes, I realize I oughtta move the G string tuner hole inboard an 1/8" or so. I'll finish binding the headstock, finish drilling for the tuners & route the neck pocket this weekend. Sorry no pics for a while, but the binding job was rather tedious & not real pretty while in progress.

Gibson's already done a few 'silver' tops. They did a limited run of 'pewter' LP Customs & look at the silver color they use on the 'Platinum' LP Studios.

Doh! Thanks, Keith. Guess I was too busy enjoyin' the glue buzz when I was building models to see what it was made of. Thanks again.

Anybody here know of a source in Germany for binding cement? I'm using their w/b/w .090" binding, but can't get the cement shipped here.\ Alternatively, what would an adhesive the same (or chemically very similar) as that binding cement be called here? Source for acetone? Thanks.

Thanks, man. Tho it's really just a 'de-radicalized' Ken Lawrence shape. I dig it.

Gonna be mahogany body/neck, set neck, P90s, 'Pigtail' wraptail bridge, 3 ply binding, macassar ebony board w/abalone dots. Front- Rear- Headstock template- Neck billet- And #2 in the works-